Eminian: Rivermen captain signs extension

Adam Cracknell was nearly Mr. Irrelevant in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, when Calgary took him in the ninth round, 279th of 290 players chosen.

The big center sure matters to the Peoria Rivermen and St. Louis Blues, though, keeping himself on the organization’s radar as a go-to player and, on Monday, putting his name on another NHL contract.

The parent club Blues agreed to a one-year, two-way contract extension with Cracknell that will keep the Rivermen veteran in the fold through 2012-13.

Dave Eminian

Adam Cracknell was nearly Mr. Irrelevant in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, when Calgary took him in the ninth round, 279th of 290 players chosen.

The big center sure matters to the Peoria Rivermen and St. Louis Blues, though, keeping himself on the organization’s radar as a go-to player and, on Monday, putting his name on another NHL contract.

The parent club Blues agreed to a one-year, two-way contract extension with Cracknell that will keep the Rivermen veteran in the fold through 2012-13.

“This is my fourth one-year contract, it’s just how I play every year,” Cracknell said. “The Blues called me and asked to extend and I didn’t hesitate at all.

“We got it done fast.”

Cracknell is a feel-good story. He came from those humble draft beginnings and battled his way through the ECHL. He earned an AHL contract with the Rivermen, and from there earned an NHL contract with the Blues and now an extension.

He earned the Peoria captaincy this season and is amid a career-year with 20 goals.

Last season, Cracknell earned his NHL debut with the Blues and played 24 games, notching three goals up there.

“It’s been a great year for me career-wise, and I wanted to stay with the organization,” Cracknell said. “The Blues allowed me to achieve my dream. I can’t thank them enough for the opportunities I’ve gotten here and in St. Louis.

“I owe them a lot.”

20-20: Still amazed more by when the Norfolk Admirals broke the Peoria Rivermen pro hockey record win streak, than the fact they did it.

What are the odds an 18-game win streak record stands for more than 20 years, and then on the night a banquet room is filled with players from that team, celebrating the franchise’s 30th season of operation and that team’s record and championship season — the record falls?

“It’s amazing timing, hard to get your head around it,” said Rob Robinson, an All-Star defenseman on the 1990-91 Rivermen team that set that record and won the IHL title, too. “But it’s an awesome thing for the sport. Records are made to be broken. Our guys did it and won a championship and we were lucky to be part of that magnificent streak and get that title.”

The banquet was Friday, and 1990-91 Rivermen captain Dave Thomlinson was speaking in front of nearly 400 fans at the dinner while laptops and cellphones were keyed into the Norfolk game at the same moment.

“It’s as if it was a message from the hockey gods, the timing of this,” Thomlinson said.

“We had that win streak record for 22 years. A record like that, it’s what everybody shoots for, it’s made to be challenged and broken. We congratulate Norfolk.

“It will be interesting to see if they win the Calder Cup now. For us, we had that streak early in the season and we knew we had to go on to win a championship, too, a lot of pressure there.

“It was never the win streak that held us together. It was always that championship that has made us family all these years and is why we’re all here tonight. I played for a Binghamton team that had a big win streak but we didn’t win the Calder. I’ve never been back there since, don’t have that sense of camaraderie with guys from that team.”

Norfolk ran the record to 20 straight over the weekend, and will next host St. John’s on Wednesday and Friday in a duel between the Eastern Conference’s top two teams.

COOPER TIME: Norfolk’s head coach is Jon Cooper, who has ties to St. Louis and was well-known by the Rivermen old-timers.

Cooper was the head coach of the junior hockey St. Louis Bandits in the NAHL and took that team to championships in 2007 and 2008. Kelly Chase, who played on that record-setting Rivermen team in the IHL, is vice-president of hockey operations for the Bandits.

“Cooper is a winner,” Plager said. “We know him well, and Cooper knows all about the Peoria Rivermen and the streak because he’s heard us tell the stories. He coached for Kelly Chase and they’ve been talking throughout the Norfolk streak, he understands the history.

“In 1990 I always told our guys ‘Keep going, keep it going, get to 19, get to 20, because some day someone is going to challenge us.’

“You hate to see such a magnificent record go. But we feel like it went to a friend in the game, someone we respect, and we congratulate Coop and his team.”

RIVER READINGS: The Rivermen three-game slide has coincided with a slump from their top two scoring forwards, All-Star center T.J. Hensick and right wing Patrick O’Sullivan. The duo has zero points in the last three games. ... Veteran Rivermen defenseman Brennan Evans blocked two shots and delivered a huge hit in Sunday’s loss, during which he and many other teammates played well. ... Here’s the scoring totals for the Rivermen Legends Game, put on by the Rivermen Alumni Association on Saturday at Carver Arena as part of the franchise’s 30th season celebration: Kelly Chase (1 goal, 1 assist), Nelson Emerson (1 goal, 2 assists), Joe Rybar (2 goals, 1 assist), Alex Brooks (1 assist), Dave Mackey (1 goal), Ron Hoover (1 goal), Randy Skarda (2 goals, 1 assist), Darren Clark (2 goals), Jean-Guy Trudel (4 goals, 3 assists), Bo Cheesman (4 goals), Dominic Lavoie (1 assist), Mark Bassen (1 goal), Dustin McArthur (1 goal), Denis Cyr (1 goal), Kevin Lune (1 assist). ... The AHL announced over the weekend that Hershey will host Wilkes-Barre on Jan. 20, 2013 in an outdoor game at Hersheypark Stadium. ... Western Conference leader Oklahoma City needs 3 points — in any combination of points it earns or points its opponents fail to make — to lock itself ahead of Milwaukee and Peoria and clinch a playoff spot. ... Former Rivermen goaltender Ben Bishop is 3-2-2 with a 2.41 goals-against and .912 saves rate in the NHL for Ottawa so far. He is on the shelf now, after leaving a game last week with a suspected groin strain.

Dave Eminian covers the Peoria Rivermen and hockey for the Journal Star. Reach him at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Check out his sports blog, Cleve’s World, at pjstar.com and follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

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